Hidden in Plain Sight
by Tara Liana Ni Conchuir
Summary: When the Society of the Evening Star started showing activity, five nymphs forsook immortality to act as couriers for the Knights of the Dawn. This is what happens ten years later.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Last time I checked, my name wasn't Brandon Mull. Therefore, I do not own Fablehaven.

A BIG thank-you to Sun-Kissed Demigod, who beta'd the prologue and first chapter of this story (and did a great job of it, too!).

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Prologue

Today, many people are aware of the fact that your average spy does not work in a glamorous environment. Still, many people dream of car chases, stakeouts outside seedy hotels, and the like. A few people may imagine spies leading lives of comfort and fame, while knowing those type of stories are just that- stories. Or are they?

Imaging, if you will, a being known as a dryad. Put her together with two hamadryads with a talent for singing, a hamadryad who plays the flute, and a hamadryad who plays the violin. Give them all a sense of what is right and what is wrong, a desire for thrill, and a want- no, need- to fight darkness and restore light. The result? Our story- a story of the beings mentioned above. The story of Leatara Westenra, Merwenna Tyril, Dioni Downes, Joyra Neyland, and Caroilana Nesbitt.

It all began when the Society of the Evening Star started becoming powerful again. The Knights of the Dawn were in desperate need of funds and trustworthy couriers. On Fablehaven, a group of friends, the dryad Leatara and the hamadryads Merwenna, Dioni, Joyra, and Caroilana, decided to do something about this.

The girls had always been different from most nymphs. They had an interest in human affairs, including the Knights of the Dawn (to this day, no one but the girls themselves know how they learned of the Knights). What they loved most about humans, though, was their music. Not the rock and pop widely known today, but classical and folk. They even learned how to play and sing human music themselves. This isn't very surprising if you consider that all music came from the nymphs in the first place, though.

When the call for help went out from the Knights, the friends somehow learned of it, and volunteered to leave the trees to devote their lives to the struggle between light and dark. To them, the chance to make a difference in the war and to restore light was more important than immortality. So, when the Knights accepted their offer, for the first time in millennia, nymphs left the trees not for love, but for light.

They already had the skill to play any song suited to their instruments and voices. They only needed two things: a name, and other people to play with.

An Soilsiu, the name they settled on, was Dioni's idea. Her tree had originally grown in Ireland before being transplanted, hamadryad and all, to Fablehaven , and she knew the language better than the Irish themselves. They all agreed upon the name. It was perfect.

And, for those of you who can't speak Irish, An Soilsiu means "The Enlightenment."

Years of hard work followed their desertion of the trees. They hired other musicians, most of them like-minded nymphs from other preserves, to play with them. They learned many songs, hired and fired many human musicians, and finally, three years after the Society started becoming active, they performed for the first time. The crowds loved them.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: As I have said, I do not own Fablehaven. (but a girl can dream, can't she?)

Chapter One

It's been seven years since our first show, and ten years since the Society began showing activity. An Soilsiu has worked out better than expected, with us inspiring many other young humans to take up music, as well as the original planned benefits. (Yes, one of us is telling this story. I'll let you, dear reader, do your best to figure out which one.)

We've hit a few problems, though. Our drummer, Eoin Domull, and our pianist, Astor Mahoney, both human men, refused to believe us when we informed them of the truth of our band. (We always reveal ourselves once we've determined a new musician or worker is trustworthy.) We were desperate because we didn't want to have to remove their memories of us, thereby losing two good musicians. We were forced to resort to desperate measures.

I'll admit, taking them to Lost Mesa was an incredibly stupid mistake. The milk they drank did nothing, and the five of us, not knowing this, received permission to take them to see the zombies. Long story short, the aforementioned undead somehow got loose, and, eyes closed to magic, Eoin and Astor didn't realize their danger. The zombies ate them.

It didn't feel right, hiring another human drummer and human pianist to take the place of those poor men. Leatara and Dioni brought up the subject with Lieutenant Dougan Fisk at a meeting of the Knights, shortly after the Sphinx's betrayal was uncovered. The last thing the two of them expected was for Dougan to grin and tell them he played the drums in what spare time he had, and that he knew someone who could be the pianist. "After all, it's about time I had a break from being a Lieutenant. I know a young man who could step into my shoes for the duration of the tour, and if Warren Burgess wants to dust off his piano-playing skills, I'd bet he'd do well. I'll find him and ask him."

Dougan was better than his word. Within a week, he contacted us, informing Joyra, who happened to pick up the phone, that Warren was agreeable and he'd convinced his replacement. The only condition was that Kendra, Warren's fourth cousin, needed to come with us. Kendra was in unspecified danger if she stayed on Fablehaven, and Warren was in charge of her safety. No Kendra, no Warren, so three days later, Dougan, Warren, and Kendra arrived at our hotel.

It surprised us when, later in the day the three arrived, Kendra showed a talent for singing. We were practicing one of our most popular songs, Mo Ghile Mear, and when we were half-way through, Caroi found that she was missing half of her practice sheet music, so Merwa went to go get it. Knowing the incredibly messy state of Caroi and Merwa's room, Lea asked Kendra if she could fill in for Merwa so they could get in a few renditions of the song. Kendra nodded, and picked up the lyrics at "Set your heart on this far shore...", not even glancing at her lyric sheet.

When Kendra's part was over, we sat in stunned silence for a full ten seconds. The girl could sing! Lea caught Di's eyes, and Joya and Caroi looked at each other, then at Lea. Just then, Merwa flung open the door and demanded, "Kendra, was that you?" Kendra nodded. Merwa's face lit up and she cocked her head at Lea, who nodded.

Lea stood and said, formally, "Kendra Sorenson, on behalf of the members of An Soilsiu, I invite you to become our band's first Junior Vocalist."

Kendra's jaw dropped. She closed it quickly, and said in a tone of voice that expressed more than her words ever could, "I accept your invitation, Leatara Westenra. May we all sing well and do what is right."

Dougan and Warren cheered. We girls didn't, but our smiles could have lit up the dark side of the moon.


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: I'm sorry for the delay. Last week, I was in Taiwan with about three minutes of computer time each day, and the week before, I was at Camp Cleawox, near Florence. Cleawox is in the middle of nowhere, and the only computers there (as far as I know, a grand total of two) are for the use of the staff. I'm not sure any of the other campers knew they existed!

Songs listened to during the writing of this chapter: The Countess Cathleen/Woman of the Sidhe (Riverdance), One World (Chloë Agnew, Órla Fallon, Méav Ní Mhaolchatha, and Lisa Kelly), Reels (Máiréad Nesbitt)

Second Chapter

It wasn't as easy as you might think to formally make Kendra a member of An Soilsiu. Lea, Di, and Caroi went to Fablehaven to get Stan Sorenson's permission. That took about an hour. Then again, the three of us had to meet Tanugatoa, Coulter, and Vanessa, and catch up with Stan, Dale, Ruth, Shiara, and all of our old nymph and fairy friends, so we were pretty quick, considering how much they all had to tell us.

When the three of us came back, it was time to take Kendra shopping. We were good friends with the owner of a fancy-dress shop a mile from the hotel, and she helped us choose a color scheme for Kendra's dresses. To accentuate her cream-colored skin, Kendra's dresses was deep red with bronze embroidery.

I won't bore you with the technical details of everything else we did, so I'll just say it took several weeks until we were totally ready. To our surprise, Kendra was word-perfect on all of our old songs. She explained that she was one of the biggest fans of An Soilsiu, and had grown up with our music.

Our first concert was a success. Kendra's friends and family made up at least one-tenth of the audience. Most of them, as well as many other people, mobbed us at the Meet & Greet. It was a huge success.

The next few concerts were a great success, as well. We made several new friends at every M&G. I'll always remember the girl wearing the An Soilsiu t-shirt. Only, this wasn't the regular fan t-shirt- it had been hand-embroidered.

We were looking forward to a week's respite from performing when a urgent message came from the Knights.

Lea was ready to spit fire, but the rest of us were excited.

Maybe we shouldn't have been.

A/N: See the pretty button? Click on it and make me happy! When I'm happy, I tend to update things. When I'm not, I like to go and knit or play my violin, while staying far away from the computer. Far, far away.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update! I got roped into a volunteer job, I got banned from the computer, and I've been working on a new fanfic. It's for Percy Jackson and the Olympians, if anyone cares.

Disclaimer: _You see a girl of about thirteen being dragged out onto a stage with a microphone by a woman in her twenties. The girl is screaming, "Maggie! No! Not the disclaimer! Please please please no!"_

_The woman, Maggie, replies, "Liana, no disclaimer, no fanfic. As your lawyer, I am forced to advise you-"_

_Liana yells, "Unhand me and I'll do it!"_

_She is released by Maggie, who shepherds her up to the stage and hands her a notecard. Liana mumbles, "Idonotownfablehaven-"_

_"Louder!" Maggie insists._

_Liana yells, "I DON'T OWN FABLEHAVEN! Happy now, Maggie?" she adds. The lawyer nods._

And now, on to the story!

~*~

The message said:

_Leatara, Dioni, Merwenna, Joyra, Caroilana, Dougan, Warren, and Kendra: The bulk of the Knights were taken out of commission at a gathering. We don't have any other operatives up to the standard required for this mission, so we need you to do it. Brace yourselves. You're not going to like this._

_The Society has discovered a talisman that will allow them to rehouse the spirits of the artifacts into other objects without having the artifacts themselves anywhere nearby. The Knights have known about this talisman for a very long time, and, in fact, we have the means to locate it. Dougan knows all about it. He'll tell you._

_We need you to locate the talisman before the Society does. If it takes more than a week, we'll cover for you at the concert. With luck, you'll find it in a matter of days. Keep your fingers crossed._

_This mission must be kept strictly confidential. Tell no one._

_The Lieutenants._

I think you can tell why cautious, stern Leatara wasn't very happy. We had no way to resist a summons like this.

After the note was read aloud by Dioni, there was a silence lasting about ten seconds. Then, Merwenna laughed with joy, Dioni tossed the message in the air and did a handstand, Joyra looked bewildered, Caroilana played a joyful chord on her violin, Leatara sat there looking sulky and annoyed, Warren looked bemused, Kendra did a cartwheel, and Dougan sighed and looked exasperated.

After all the hullabaloo had been suppressed, Warren looked at Dougan with an expectant expression. "Well?" he asked. "What's all this about you knowing how to find the talisman?"

Dougan looked reluctant, but he answered. "Hidden somewhere that very few people have gone and returned alive-I'm not sure where it is, but that will change-is a talisman that senses the spirits of magical artifacts and captures them, rehousing them in nearby objects that are similar to the original artifact. It was wrested from the clutches of the Society five hundred years ago by the Knights of the time and hidden. A "spirit seal" was created to help locate the talisman, and given to the first Keeper. The Keeper was a Lieutenant. Over the past five centuries, it has changed hands many times. The Society has never attempted to find it, which I find odd. Anyway, the Keeper is always a Lieutenant, and, a few years back, it passed to me when the former Keeper died from a malignant tumor. I never thought it would be needed, but now it is. I hope none of us come to grief finding the talisman."

Leatara looked as if she thought we would, but no one payed any attention to it.

The thought briefly crossed my mind that maybe she had a point with not liking having to do this mission. I dismissed it- Lea was a pessimist by nature.

Maybe I shouldn't have. Sometimes, the worst does occur. This was one of those times.

A/N: I've been bad about updating. However, two wrongs don't make a right. So set a better example and show be how to behave by reviewing!


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